


Talk to me (bonus scene from BOY)

by Violet_Witch



Series: Everbody lies in the cave [2]
Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, Get Together, M/M, bart is really messed up from his past/future, people don't know Khaji is sentient, talking about GASP feelings, video games cause why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 11:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15907383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_Witch/pseuds/Violet_Witch
Summary: This fic is between chapters 19 and 20 of Because of You, my TimKon fic. Technically you probably don't need to read that to understand this, but you might be a little lost if you don't.





	Talk to me (bonus scene from BOY)

Jaime had always been of the opinion that Black Canary was one of the more terrifying members of the League. Sure, Superman could crush him like a twig and gave off a police vibe that had made Jaime a little uncomfortable at first, but he was also the human personification of a golden retriever, even if he could be a little cold with Kon. And Batman’s Batglare had been known to stop hearts, but ever since he’d learned about the _extensive_ Bat brood, the glare had lost a bit of its edge.

But even Black Canary’s _softer_ side was scary.

“It has come to my attention that the two of you have not been training as much as you could be.” Black Canary narrowed her eyes, employing the classic _I’m not glaring I’m squinting_ glare. “We’re going to change that.”

Bart put up his hand tentatively. “Does this have anything to do with the mission that we _totally did not go on_ Wednesday?”

Even within their own bases, the League wasn’t acknowledging that the team had ever gone to save Kon. The official unofficial story was that Kon escaped Deathstroke on his own.

That didn’t stop various League members (mostly Black Canary and Red Tornado) from making passive aggressive comments and punishing the team in more creative ways.

She raised an eyebrow. “You tell me.”

“That would be a yes,” Bart sighed as his shoulders slumped.

Jaime’s eyes lingered on him just a little longer than necessary before returning to Black Canary... and promptly losing track of what she was saying as his thoughts drifted.

The past few days had been tense for everybody. Kon was still recovering and nobody was quite sure what to do about Tim, but they were only the obvious grievances.

Considering he'd only met them a few days ago, Steph and Cass seemed to be everywhere. They were always in some corner or another, being adorably couply or just talking quietly. Honestly Jaime wasn't sure if they lived in Mount Justice now or what, but at this point, he was afraid to ask. Afraid to talk to either of them much at all, actually. They seemed friendly enough, but Jaime had never been good at knew people and Steph was a lot.

Don’t get him wrong, she seemed like a wonderful person, but with the unspoken displeasure from their mentors and trying to figure out what was going on and _Bart,_ Jaime really wasn’t in the mood for getting to know new people.

 **Why can you not simply admit that you are distracted because the Impulse has been distant and you are _worried_ about him?** Even months after Bart had become Kid Flash, Khaji still called him Impulse.

“Cause I’m not,” Jaime hissed, before he could stop himself.

Apparently he had interrupted whatever Black Canary had been saying. “Something to share, Jaime?”

Straightening, Jaime tried not to blush. “No ma’am.”

Sending him one more pointed look, she continued talking, but try as Jaime might, he couldn’t pay attention when Khaji continued on like he hadn’t been interrupted.

**When you look at the Impulse, your heart rate goes up, as does your voice, and your pupils dilate. You also look at the Impulse longer per minute spent with him than any of your other friends. You think and worry about him more as well.**

Only Scarab could make what was totally _not_ a crush, into a set of such simple facts.

 **In human terms, you have a ‘crush’ on him,** yep, there it was, **and as such it is logical, if a human fault, that you worry about whatever troubles the Impulse. My suggested plan of action, is for you to determine the cause of this discomfort through verbal communication and then to offer our services in terminating it.**

Jaime really wanted to scream ‘I can’t do that!’ and perhaps ‘What the hell?’ or even ‘Why is your solution always terminating things?’, but all of those things would draw attention to himself and probably prompt an explanation as to why he said them, so he kept quiet.

So did Khaji (the smug bastard) so he was actually able to hear what Black Canary was saying, “... but for now, you two can start by sparring,” she looked at a watch Jaime suspected she was wearing specifically for this purpose, “for the next two hours.”

“Two- you can’t be serious!” Jaime exclaimed.

Black Canary smiled. “I’ll be watching.” She pointed at the security cameras and walked out.

Jaime sighed. “They’re mad enough to make us spar for two hours, but it’s not even worth her time to stay with us.”

“Let’s just get it over with.” Bart muttered.

**The Impulse sounds uncharastically moody.**

If Jaime didn’t know better, he’d almost think Khaji was even more worried than he was.

**It is not too late to terminate the perpetrator.**

In his own way.

“Uh… right.” Jaime stepped into the ring, pulling off his sweatshirt. The Blue Beetle armour expanded across his skin until it covered everything but his face.

Bart stared at him for just a little too long before blurring for a moment and solidifying in full gear.

“Ready?” Jaime asked.

He couldn’t quite explain the sense of dread he felt when Bart nodded.

Jaime’s face masked closed, and the fight began.

Bart and Jaime rarely sparred, and when they did, it was usually in Black Canary’s ‘no powers’ lessons, so it was odd to be on the receiving end of hits that happened faster than he could follow. Well, less odd and more painful. It also made him weirdly proud?

Bart just wanted to finish the fight quickly. It made him try harder, but he was also sloppy.

At first, Jaime took some hits, stumbling around and landing very few of his own, but then Scarab said, **The Impulse is running in a predictable pattern. Fire your sonic canon at 30 degrees left of center in three, two, one.**

Jaime fired a low blast, knocking Bart off his feet.

Scarab replaced his sonic cannon with a long sword like appendage as Jaime stalked forward.

Standing over Bart, he held it out, signalling the end of the fight. “It’s over.”

But then he noticed that Bart didn’t look beaten or tired, he looked panicked.

 **Jaime, the Impulse’s heart rate is climbing at an alarming rate,** Khaji warned.

Sensing Jaime’s thoughts, Scarab retracted the armour, leaving Jaime in his jeans and t-shirt.

“Woah, _ese_ calm down. It’s just a sparring match.”

Bart scrambled away, mouth moving wordlessly and eyes darting, just fast enough to blur, all over Jaime’s body.

Jaime crouched down, trying to make himself look small. “It’s just me. I'd never hurt you.”

He finally figured out what Bart was mouthing. ‘Beetle’.

Bart squeezed his eyes shut and closed his mouth. “J-Jaime,” he forced out, more like he was trying to convince himself than anything.

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s me.” Why was Bart scared of him? They fought together all the time. Well, not _together_ together, but they were assigned the same team on missions. Which usually split them up.

 **Not you, me.** Khaji said, the closest to horrified Jaime had ever heard him.

That didn’t explain why Bart was- oh.

“You’re in 2018 at Mount Justice. My name is Jaime Reyes and I’m off mode. Scarab is _not_ controlling my actions and we beat the Reach, remember? They’re gone. You guys saved me. I’m _never_ going on mode again.” He spoke softly, sinking into a more comfortable sitting position and continuing the comforting string of words, all reminding Bart of when and where he was.

Bart’s breathing slowly calmed, the only noise now filling the cavernous space between them.

Slowly, Bart began crawling towards Jaime, each move deliberate, like he was forcing himself closer. He stopped when their knees were nearly brushing.

Jaime held his breath when Bart just as slowly place his hand over Jaime’s racing heart.

For once, Khaji stayed silent. He didn’t warn Jaime is was a trick or that he should protect himself or kill Bart, he didn’t say anything at all.

There were so many questions Jaime wanted to ask, but instead of voicing them, he just swallowed, watching Bart continue to stare at his hand on Jaime’s chest.

“Back when- when I was in the future, there was a saying about yo- about the Blue Beetle. They said something like him, something that couldn’t feel love or pain, didn’t have a heart.” Very slowly, careful to telegraph his movements, Jaime brought up his own hand to cover Bart’s, pushing it harder against his chest.

“I didn’t believe them of course, something had to be alive under the armour or the Scarab would have gotten a new host, but no one could disprove it because his armour never came off and you can’t feel a heartbeat through armour.”

 _Mine or yours?_  he thought. Bart may not wear armour when he ran, but Jaime would be shocked if a bullet could get through that million-watt smile of his.

“They… they said that about us?” If Bart found Jaime’s use of ‘us’ strange, he didn’t comment.

“I lied,” he blurted out abruptly, eyes dragging away from their joined hands to meet Jaime’s. “I lied a lot actually. I lied about the time machine being broken, I lied about the future I came from, and I lied about you _. But you already knew that._ ”

Despite being only half conscious at the time, Jaime remembered every word of what Bart had told him about the apocalyptic future Bart was from and his true mission. How could Jaime ever forget?

"But I lied about something else too."

Khaji continued his uncharastic silence, leaving Jaime alone in his own head for the first time since the Scarab had attached to his back.

“In the future I’m from, the Reach won. The enslaved Earth. Blue Beetle from my time was on mode, he oversaw the meta human slaves.” He didn’t need to clarify he was one of those slaves. “A friend of mine helped me build the time machine that brought me here. God, I changed his whole life! I'm probably never even going to meet him now.” Bart choked out a humorless laugh.

When he finally summoned the courage to continue, his voice came out bitter and broken. “I always knew it was a one way trip. I was supposed to come back and rewrite history, stop the invasion and save Earth. Jaime- I was supposed to kill you." Oh. "Kill you, and lock away your Scarab where no one would ever find it.”

Jaime’s hand involuntarily tightened over Bart’s, his eyes widening and his mouth parting slightly.

Unable to look his friend in the eyes any longer, Bart’s gaze fell somewhere to Jaime’s right instead. “It probably would have been easy. You all trusted me far too quickly. All it would have taken was being a little too slow to save you or an accident that could have happened to anyone.” Bart looked at him again, his eyes pleading for understanding, drinking Jaime in like this was the last time he’d ever see him. “But then I met you.”

“You were my age- practically a kid- and you were a hero. You weren’t on mode- hell, you didn't even know what the reach was yet! How was I supposed to kill you? You were kind and selfless and you had a family! People cared about you- people still do care about you! I- I care about you.” Bart’s voice had been building with his distress, but now it went quiet. “You didn’t deserve to die. And yeah, there were days when I wondered if I was making the wrong call. If I was dooming billions to their deaths, but we did it. We beat the Reach and the future I grew up in is _never_ going to happen.”

His eyes slid closed. “And that just leaves me. Someone who by all rights shouldn’t exist. A child of war and slaves in a world of peace. Alone.”

Jaime pulled Bart towards him, causing the other boy to practically fall on top of him, and hugged him with everything he had. “You aren’t alone.”

 **I… I did this to him,**  Scarab murmured, revolution and pain rolling in his voice.

“Khaji…” Jaime said softly, trying to think of something that would comfort him.

“What?” Bart asked in confusion.

Jaime hadn’t actually told anyone Scarab’s name yet. He hadn’t thought they’d understand, but maybe Bart needed to know Scarab was his own being and would never belong to the Reach again. “Scarab’s name if Khaji Dah. He told me after the Reach invasion. He wanted to separate himself from those monsters.”

Bart pulled away to look at Jaime in shock. “He thinks about stuff like that?”

 **Bart only knows me as a weapon,** Khaji observed, seemingly regaining some of his usual composure. **It might be helpful to explain our situation to him more fully.**

“Yeah. Khaji has his own feelings and thoughts. He still isn’t human, he doesn’t have a body or a way to communicate with anyone but me, so it’s hard to explain him to people. But he’s his own… person. I don’t talk about him a lot because it’s hard for people to wrap their head around me not only having alien technology fused with my body, but also an alien in my head.” Jaime smiled wryly at the end.

Khaji waited with his own version of bated breath to see Bart’s reaction.

Finally the speedster said, “What’s he saying to you now?”

 **That I’m sorry,** Khaji answered immediately.

“He says he’s sorry,” Jaime conveyed.

To his surprise, Bart shook his head, addressing Khaji, “Don’t be. It wasn’t you. It was the Reach.”

**Still, you had to go through that.**

Jaime relayed the message.

The corner of Bart’s mouth tugged up in a smile. “But I don’t have to anymore, and that’s because of you. Both of you.”

“And we’re still here for you.” Jaime realized they always had been, but now Bart would know it. “Whatever you need.”

 **From now I can leave your mask off for sparring sessions,** Khaji suggested.

Jaime voiced the sentiment aloud.

Bart gaped at him for a moment. “I just told you I was going to _kill_ you, and you want to help me?”

Shrugging halfheartedly, Jaime joked, “I’m still here aren’t I?”

Bart let out a strangled laugh, pulling Jaime in for another hug and burying his face in Jaime’s neck.

_“Thank you.”_

***

The next few days were… strange.

Luckily the cameras in the training room didn’t have audio, so they finished their assigned sparring hours, with Jaime’s face visible, and Black Canary didn't comment.

Having someone know about Khaji Da was a whole new kind of experience. Sure, the team knew that Scarab was sentient and occasionally talked to Jaime about battle strategy and general ‘here’s the most efficient way to obliterate the target’ type stuff, but Bart was treeting Khaji like a person.

He’d ask Jaime what Khaji was saying and he’d respond thoughtfully; he’d include Khaji in their conversations and jokes; he’d ask Khaji questions ranging from inane to genuinely curious; he just generally took it in stride and tried to get to know Khaji.

Because of this, Khaji had gone from trying to disguise his care for Bart with professional distance and skewed logic, to openly gushing over the speedster and on several occasions naming him as his favorite human. Jaime had wanted to be offended by that, but more often than not, Bart was _his_ favorite human too.

With this increase of affection, Khaji had also surpassed dry remarks and moved onto subtly and not so subtly urging Jaime to make a move on Bart.

It was getting harder and harder to ignore.

**You are alone with Bart and should be for several hours. Kiss him.**

" _No_ ," Jaime hissed, fighting to keep the blush off his cheeks, and praying that Bart would think he was just getting a little to caught up in their game of Mario Kart.

The speedster might have been fast in real life, but Jaime had the advantage in this particular race.

“Did you just cut me off?” Bart asked in mock offense, continuing his stream of commentary and chatter, “But anyways, that’s why Wonder Woman could take Supes any day of the week.”

They finished the game with Jaime in first and Bart in second with a bunch of NPCs trailing behind them.

“You owe me a sandwich _hermano,_ ” Jaime declared in victory.

Bart laughed, but it wasn’t quite as carefree as usual.

Setting aside his controller, Jaime asked, “What’s up?”

Hesitating over the phrasing of his question, Bart set aside his own controller. “Can I see the Scarab?” he said finally. “I mean if it’s okay with you and Khaji, I was just wondering what he looked like, because I don’t think I’ve ever _really_ seen him.”

In truth, nobody had. Having an alien fused to your spine tended to make one self conscious. The only people who Jaime had allowed to look at the Scarab closely, were Black Canary, Dr. Palmer, Martian Manhunter, and Batman, yet even then it had only really been because he didn't have a choice in the matter.

 **I would like for Bart to be able to see me,** Khaji decided.

Taking a careful breath, Jaime tried for nonchalance with his answer, only barely missing the mark. “Sure.”

If Khaji was okay with it, then so was he.

Turning around to face away from Bart, Jaime reached up and tugged off his shirt, uncovering the Scarab and presenting it to Bart for inspection.

Bart took in the smooth blue shell and the faint stretch marks spider webbing out from each of the Scarab’s legs. Without thinking he reached his hand out before pulling it back. “Can I… is it okay if I touch him?”

Swallowing thickly, Jaime nodded his consent, not quite trusting words.

Bart reached out again, dragging his fingers lightly over the gleaming shell.

**Jaime Reyes, your skin and the Scarab are both very sensitive there and if Bart-**

Khaji’s words cut off abruptly when Bart’s fingers brushed the skin around the Scarab and Jaime found himself gasping.

The act had already felt intimate, why was _that_ necessary? Jaime cursed whatever fate found it so funny to mess with him.

“Did I hurt you?” Bart asked worriedly, pulling away his hand.

Jaime blushed, dragging one hand along his face and leaving it there to cover his eyes. “Uh… not exactly. The skin there is kind of… sensitive.”

“Oh.” Was all Bart said.

Then his hand was tracing the outline of the Scarab and Jaime grit his teeth to stop himself from _moaning_.

“Do you… do you want me to stop?” Bart asked.

Choking on his words, Jaime instead just shook his head. He _never_ wanted Bart to stop.

Bart subconsciously leaned closer. “Khaji, you’re very beautiful,” he whispered, his breath over the back of Jaime’s neck.

Khaji beeped in the back of Jaime’s mind, for once so off guard he was unable to respond. The combination of the stimuli and being addressed in such away was just a little too much for him.

Then Bart’s fingers slipped lower to graze the skin just below the Scarab and Jaime couldn’t take it anymore.

He turned around, catching Bart’s wrist and suddenly crowding his space way more than he should. Bart’s eyes widened in surprise, but he made no move to get away.

He should stop. Pull away. Put on his shirt. Pretend this never happened before he did something drastic.

But... they were so close Jaime could pick out individual specs of color in Bart’s eyes before he purposefully let his eyes drop to look at Bart’s lips.

The silence stretched between them, both too scared to close the distance.

Bart’s tongue darting out to wet his lips was the last straw. **Kiss him Jaime, or I will,** Khaji ordered.

He wasn’t totally sure what Khaji meant by that, but it prompted Jaime to ask, “Can I kiss you?”

Bart seemed to melt beneath his gaze, nodding weakly.

Jaime didn’t need to be told a third time, he leaned forward, pressing his mouth against Bart’s.

The smaller boy’s free hand wrapped around Jaime’s nape, pulling him down with onto the bed so he was straddling him, supporting himself with an elbow beside Bart’s head and his other hand still holding onto Bart’s wrist.

Bart used the new angle to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue into Jaime's mouth. Readjusting his grip on Bart’s wrist to instead intertwine their fingers, he let out a soft moan in response, encouraging Bart to move his free hand from Jaime’s neck to run up and down his side and then to reach around to brush the sensitive skin that had started all of this.

Jaime's mind whited out. All he could think about was how good it felt to have Bart's hands on him. He couldn't remember the last time someone had been so unafraid to touch Khaji like this. Probably never.

The kiss was getting less innocent by the second, and it only got hotter when Bart pushed Jaime away to yank off his own shirt.

Jaime took in the miles of pale skin, marked by years of scars,( **all old and made while he had an inhibitor collar on** Khaji noted angrily in the back of his mind) but still beautiful.

He sat up, running his hands along every inch of that skin, trying to memorize every part of him, every noise or expression he made.

When he couldn’t resist any longer, he leaned down to recapture Bart’s mouth.

“ _Jaime._ ”

Bart said his fucking name. His. Fucking. Name. Moaned it really. His brain was melting. He couldn’t think straight. Well, he never thought _straight_ when Bart was around, but that wasn’t the point. Any bit of reason that might have told him this was a bad idea or to maybe slow down seemed to have disappeared with his shirt.

All that mattered was the speedster beneath him.

He only pulled back when Khaji subtly and reluctantly reminded him he needed air.

Resting his forehead against Bart’s, Jaime laughed quietly. “Wow.”

“That was so crash,” Bart agreed.

“You wanna do it again sometime?”

“How about all the time?”

Jaime pretended to think it over. “Yeah, I think we can make that work.”

Bart pulled him back down. “How about we start now?”

Laughing into Bart’s mouth, Jaime flicked his nipple and the speedster cried out. “Ohgodohgodohgoddothatagain.”

Jaime was just about to oblige when the door suddenly opened.

“Are you-?”

Jaime hadn’t even registered the intrusion enough to be embarrassed before Bart had disappeared from beneath him and was closing the door.

”Guess we forgot to lock it,” he mumbled, banging his head against it softly.

Jaime burst out laughing. “Who even was that?”

Bart’s mouth twitched in amusement. “Kon. I think we scared him for life.”

Jaime leaned over and grabbed Bart’s hand, gently pulling him back onto the bed. “You know we’re going to have to talk to him right?”

Snuggling into Jaime’s side, Bart murmured, “We can do that tomorrow. I vote we take a group nap. Sound good Khaji?”

 **I will protect you while you sleep,** Khaji answered.

This was going to be a whole new kind of strange.


End file.
